1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an air cleaner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air cleaner for a vehicle having an improved door locking structure not affected by the temperature of an engine compartment and the air cleaner configured to be capable of performing a door opening/closing operation and a filter replacing operation by simple manipulation.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, intake systems for engines are systems that supply air required in a combustion process to an engine. An intake system for an engine includes an air cleaner that removes foreign substances in the air inhaled into the engine.
Since dust contained in the air or a fine impurity is included in the inhaled air, the inhaled air, dust or impurity of which is removed, must be supplied to a cylinder of the engine.
Thus, an air cleaner that purifies the inhaled air required for the combustion process of the engine is mounted on the intake system for the engine. The air cleaner is fixedly disposed in the intake system for the engine in a state in which a filter element of the air cleaner is hung or inserted between an upper case and a lower case.
Thus, the inhaled air introduced into a case through a duct passes through the filter element inside the air cleaner and then is supplied to the engine via an air hose. Thus, the inhaled air, foreign substances of which are removed by the filter element, is supplied to the cylinder such that the engine shows a high output and abrasion of the engine is prevented.
The filter element of the air cleaner needs to be periodically cleaned or replaced. Thus, an air cleaner that is capable of easily removing and mounting the filter element is required. A drawer type structure, in which the filter element can be inserted/removed into/from an inside of the case in a slide manner, has been proposed.
Prior-art documents 1 and 2 disclose constructions in which a filter element of an air cleaner can be inserted/removed into/from an inside of a case simply in a drawer manner without disassembling the case so that an operation of replacing the filter element can be easily performed.
However, air cleaners disclosed in prior-art documents 1 and 2 use additional frames (prior-art document 1: a frame at which a handle is installed, prior-art document 2: a drawer type case) having drawer shapes for fixing the filter element, and require a fixing unit for fixing the frame on which the filter element is mounted, to the case (upper/lower housing or case).
Since the air cleaners disclosed in prior-art documents 1 and 2 each have a structure using the frame, the number of operations when the filter element is replaced with a new one is large. That is, the frame must be taken out from the case and then the filter element must be removed from the frame, a new filter element must be mounted on the frame again and then, the frame must be inserted into the case.
In this procedure, the air cleaner disclosed in prior-art document 2 further requires a cumbersome procedure of releasing a fixed state of a ring-shaped holder that is a fixing unit, replacing the holder with a new one and then fixing the new holder again.
Furthermore, since directivity in which the filter element must be mounted in a predetermined direction, exists in a direction in which the filter element is to be mounted, convenience in the replacing operation is lowered.
Prior-art document 3 discloses an air cleaner having a frame structure using a link unit in which an operation of replacing a filter assembly including a filter element can be easily performed. The air cleaner disclosed in prior-art document 3 includes a door that opens/closes an entrance of a case and the link unit that causes the filter element to closely contact the case or to release the close-contact state of the filter assembly while being interlocked with a rotation operation of the door.
A hook-shaped clamp is formed integrally with the door so as to maintain a closed state. The clamp is fastened to a hanging jaw of an upper case and thus the door can be maintained in the closed state.
A coupling protrusion that protrudes laterally and a gasket (rubber seal) that is formed of a rubber material and is long installed to surround the coupling protrusion are provided at an outer side of the frame of the filter assembly. The gasket closely contacts an inner side of the case and a horizontal link so that airtightness can be maintained.
In the air cleaner disclosed in prior-art document 3, when the door is opened, a state in which the filter assembly closely contacts the case, is released, and the filter assembly can be easily removed from the case in the slide manner. Subsequently, when a new filter assembly is accommodated in the case and is coupled to the link unit and then the door is closed, the filter assembly is automatically in close contact with the case and is fixed thereto.
However, in the above-mentioned air cleaners, when the temperature of the engine rises, the clamp formed of a plastic material expands by heat such that a coupling force to the hanging jaw may be lowered. As a result, the fixed state of the filter assembly is released when the door is opened due to vibration.
A process of opening the door by releasing the hung state of the clamp is inconvenient (the number of processes is large), the coupling protrusion and the gasket have a complicated coupling structure, and friction between the gasket (that is long installed in all sections of the coupling protrusion in a lengthwise direction), the inner side of the case and the link is large such that the door and the link are not easily moved when the door is opened (there is a sense of tightness).
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.